Category Archives: Philosophy

Philosophy by definition is the study of reality, existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. While I am not religious or endorse Buddhism, I think there is a valid reason why the ethics, moral and self discipline of Buddhism has taken an important role in modern Western clinical psychology and even clinical physiotherapy (physical therapy).

Lions in front of the weak are lapdogs in front of the strong!

The best way I can describe people who are outspoken about issues in developing countries but yet go silent on issues impacting where they live, often first world countries, can be summarized using a famous Sinhalese poem;

උස් තැන් දැක හැකිලෙන්නේ, මිටි තැන් දැක පුප්පන්නේ
නිවටුන් බව සිතමින්නේ මගේ, පුතා නිදියනේ
ඉටු කොට කලයුතු යුතුකම්, ලැබුණත් ලෝකෙන් ගැරහුම්
ඉවසන්නට පුළුවන් නම්, ඔබයි මගේ පුතා උතුම්

It would roughly translate as follows:

When you are in front of strong powerful entities (like a first world country), if you become weak (like a lapdog)
But when you are in front of a weak entity (such as a third word country), if you become strong (like a lion)
Son, remember you become a feeble man or a weak man with no ethics
Even if the world goes against you, stand on your own feet
Patience is a virtue when the world doesn’t understand this…

This poem comes into my mind every time I speak to someone from our South Asian communities that always complain about South Asia but never say much about out in the open about issues we are facing in Canada. It is a very strong philosophical analysis on how people have selective criticism of social, political and cultural issues. This is one of the reason why I have somewhat isolated myself from “ethnic” community events and programs.

That’s it for today but I will try to post more content later in the year.

Personalities of Professionals

I have several years of industry experience either by working indirectly in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields or by directly holding academic and professional positions within these fields. I have worked in academia, public and private sectors. As with everything in our society, we interact with people of different personalities, opinions, etc. I believe these differences could leads to conflicts. Then those conflicts can then lead to unproductive learning and working environments. This is why we need to understand each other.

Continue reading Personalities of Professionals

No Benevolent Actors

I have not posted anything on my website on Social and Economical things for a long time. This would be my first “society” tagged (in Philosophy category) post in a since August 2021.

Anyway, as I age, I gained a lot of life experiences through interaction with others. One of the social phenomena I came across in Calgary specially after the massive global economic downturn is the self-proclaimed benevolent actors. Continue reading No Benevolent Actors

Introduction of Homophobia and Sexism to India and Sri Lanka

The pre-colonial era of India and Sri Lanka was not a utopian society. There were widespread social, political and economic issues within the two communities. However, when it comes to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and women’s rights both India and Sri Lanka were far ahead of most Western societies prior to enslavement by the West. It does not mean that these social issues never existed in South Asia. Homophobia was found in communities across the world. The difference is that homophobia was not widely accepted nor allowed in India and Sri Lanka before the arrival of Europeans.

Continue reading Introduction of Homophobia and Sexism to India and Sri Lanka

Discrimination in Canada

Backslash on peaceful protest
Backslash on peaceful protest.

The sexism, racism, homophobia, and xenophobia are not just terms we used to describe what is right from what is wrong. These terms have far-reaching implications for millions of people around the world. Canada is just doing what any other nation would do; protect its reputation at all costs even when our backyard is burning. Discrimination in Canada is more subtle and the majority of Canadians are in denial.

Continue reading Discrimination in Canada